CHINAS MILITARY EXERCISE [Military hones its skills]

On Wednesday morning, after a short ceremony, Ground Force battalions and aviation corps from the snowy forests in northern China's Heilongjiang province immediately began a realistic war game exercise.
"It's unprecedented to jointly train with aviation units on the same day of the launch," said Xu Jiqiang, a tank specialist who has participated in annual training 15 times.
The Ground Force training is also moving from sole ground combat to a comprehensive system that incorporates both ground and air units, he added.
At a naval dock in the South China Sea, officers and soldiers loaded troops and equipment onto vessels, immediately dispatched ships, and practiced repelling plane and missile attacks from the air, according to Xinhua.